Hey y’all, sometimes on here and in videos, podcasts, etc, I hear “don’t chase the thoughts.” What does that look like for y’all in practice? I don’t want to compulsively push thoughts away, since I know they’ll come back stronger if I do. What is your middle ground?
my mom used to tell me “don’t dig.” she pretty much meant that when a thought comes, don’t analyze it. just let it be, and it’ll go away eventually
@starship333 Agreed on the don’t analyze. That’s been the most helpful thing on my recovery. Don’t analyze thoughts. Don’t analyze feelings. It’s been so helpful
@Anonymous Yeah. It’s scary because I feel like I’m “letting things go unsolved”... But I guess that’s the point, I’m not gonna solve anything anyway
@starship333 And thank you, I like this saying :)
@anxiousmollusk It’s scary for sure. It’s also kind of a relief not having to solve and figure out everything
I think for me it means not talking to myself about the thought or not trying to figure anything out and just concentrate on how I'm feeling and if I feel bad just acknowledging that and kind of giving myself a hug in my mind. So I'm not really chasing it away but it kind of fades away on it's own because I don't feed it. When I'm able to do that... haha I'm still working on it.
@sylvy Thank you 😊
I agree with everyone, it's the analysis, the renuneration, the digging which gives the intrusive thoughts the power. I find Eckhart Tolles definition helpful, he mentions about using specific language to help you recognise yourself and your ego, its helped me not attach my self worth to thoughts or feelings. We tend to speak about ourselves as 'i have this intrusive thought', 'i feel regret for saying that', 'i hate myself for bullying that person in school'. This talk attaches the feeling to our self worth, it adds to the ego. Instead saying 'there are feelings of regret within me', 'there is an intrusive thought within me right now'. It allows you acknowledge something happening within you, but its not your sense of self, its not the 'I', it doesn't attach to our ego. Try it, see if it works for you. Its been helpful for me. Not focusing on our sense of ego is important because that holds our likes and dislikes, we've unknowingly attached alot of dislike to ourselves from holding onto these thoughts and identifying them with who we are, its not us, it's just a thought and feeling happening in our body and mind at that time. It will pass if we don't identify with it.
@csavva I like this a lot. Thank you 😎
Yes. That’s what OCD does. It always tries to keep you in the loop. Remember, it’s never a one and done. It takes practice.
@Shaneta Sigh. Yeah, I gotta get myself out of the mindset that they’re gonna suddenly stop somehow lol
@Shaneta Thank you for your reply :)
@anxiousmollusk No problem. Anytime. OCD can trick us. It caught me once by making me feel bad for not feeling bad. It’s tricky.
@Shaneta Argh that happens to me all the time 🙃🙃
Don’t ruminate. When I get them, I let them pass, and continue my activity like it didn’t even happen. This took practice, and it has truly helped the thoughts subside.
Do you think it’s common that like, letting go of thoughts encourages your brain to produce more? I’ve been trying all day to let go of each one that comes following y’all’s advice and it’s been working but it seems like it’s encouraging my brain to keep coming up with something new to try instead.
Or thought-stopping, or suppression. I'm new-ish to OCD treatment and recovery, and I understand and believe that I'm living with this condition, but I still don't *get* it sometimes. I don't immediately click with what other people are describing. For example, when my therapist suggests using mindfulness techniques like naming something in my environment for each sense (something I see in this room, something I hear in this moment, etc), I'm thinking, "is this thought-stopping?" because I'm using the technique to get out of an obsessive spiral and redirecting my attention outward. Isn't that a good thing? Is it thought-suppression *every* time I try to change the subject in my mind? How would you describe "thought neutralizing" mental compulsions to someone who doesn't get it? (ie me lol)
I’m a bit curious, I’ve come up with many ways to handle them, I don’t have therapy, but how do ya’ll deal with them? Is it normal to come up with other compulsions to kinda just tame them? Or to convince yourself they’re not real? I’ve had different ways of handling them, but most times I get obsessed with the way of handling it or the thought that helps me beat the bad/concerning/thoughts to the point it just stops working and I need to find a more effective thought, compulsion or thing.
What's a piece of advice you give when someone has constantly intrusive thoughts and ruminations that won't stop? Interested to see what you tell others.....more on this when I see some replies!!!
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